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England came back in style to level the Vitality IT20 series against India with a 26-run win at the Seat Unique Stadium in Bristol on May 30. It was a slow track on offer, but a strong finish from Freya Kemp with bat, and then later with the ball saw England get through to keep themselves alive in the series.
England struggled early on after captain Charlie Dean put them into bat first, with the outfield showing far more resistance than in Chelmsford. Luck came in early to save Sophia Dunkley as the usually reliable Jemimah Rodrigues dropped her early on, but the Surrey batter failed to use that second wind, getting caught behind by Richa Ghosh off Nandni Sharma for just 10.
After an under run a ball powerplay, returnee Danni Wyatt-Hodge and the in-form Amy Jones picked up the pace. But taking off the pace is what would come to aid India, as Sree Charani took center stage. Charani got Wyatt-Hodge to edge it towards Smriti Mandhana at short third to break the partnership. Charani got Jones a couple overs later with skipper Harmanpreet Kaur taking that chance and England were well stuck in a rut.
Heather Knight displayed more confidence than her underwhelming inning in the first game, but couldn’t do much, becoming Charani’s third victim in Bristol with a caught and bowled, giving her a figure of 3/25. Shreyanka Patil would also join in on the fun, bowling over the set Alice Capsey for 28, leaving England at 116/5. India should have stuck to their spinners, as in the final over Freya Kemp punished Arundhati Reddy’s pace, after a fairly economical spell up till that point, smashing 24 runs to take England to a respectable 168/5.
Shafali Verma got India flying with her trademark Sehwag-esque strokeplay. Unfortunately, that over eagerness left her blind to Lauren Bell’s slower ball, playing it to the safe hands of Dani Gibson at just 22. Yastika Bhatia fresh off her comeback half century and Mandhana picked out gaps and displayed some textbook off drive shots to keep the momentum going from Verma’s start.
Bhatia survived a dropped chance by Sophie Ecclestone on 13, but later in the over, fortunes would not favor Mandhana. Looking confident, the vice-captain attempted to pull one over the fence, but could only generate enough to find Capsey at deep square leg, departing for 32. A come down followed with Harmanpreet and Bhatia in the middle. With the demanding run rate looking more daunting, Bhatia was retired out to bring in the attacking prowessness of Rodrigues. But the tactic backfired as she left after just two balls, lobbing it to Dean in the covers off Kemp’s slower one.
India really got into trouble with the wicket of Richa Ghosh, who was showing promise to see the game through, but fell for just eight trying to swing big against Dean. Harmanpreet was the next to go, finding Jones’ gloves, losing the grip on the game completely. What looked like a comfortable win, became a decay played out ball by ball. In the end, India managed just 142/9, as England were victorious, taking the series to the final game in Taunton on Tuesday.
What we learnt
Remember Freya Kemp: Kemp was the catalyst who turned the entire game on its head with both bat and ball, and just a subtle reminder, she is just 21.39 runs from 13 deliveries, with 24 in the final over, and then with the ball 2/15, dismissing both Mandhana and Rodrigues, both in crucial moments.
With many debates about the next generation of English talent, Kemp has shown that she can well truly be the poster child of that coming generation. Be sure to watch out for this special all-rounder at the Women’s T20 World Cup.
Pace on or pace off?: India are going to be at a crossroad now, looking at what bowling lineup they will deploy for the final game, and further into the T20 World Cup. India’s spin is what was truly effective today, with the pace of Reddy and to an extent Nandni Sharma, taking a hammering. With a defeat of 26 runs, and Reddy conceding 24 in the final over, it could be that bare margin that cost the girls in blue heavily.
It is not like India doesn’t have options. Radha Yadav is on the bench, and if they want to go all in on pace against an opposition who might struggle, Renuka Singh and Kranti Gaud are also available. Even in the current XI, Verma has proven her spin bowling ability after her heroics in the 2025 ODI World Cup final, and she could have been an option to come in late, observing how the faster bowling was aiding batters. Regardless, it will be back to the drawing board now for Harmanpreet and coach Amol Muzumdar, trying to understand how each of their various venues for the T20 World Cup will play.
What they said
Sree Charani, India: (On her form in England) “I am just trying to bowl to my strength that’s it, not much, I am not trying anything, just sequence bowling, trying to do that properly.”
“Every match is important for us to win, to get confidence or to gain something out of the match, but if we had won here, I think we were two wins, so it would have given us more confidence.”
Freya Kemp, England: “I think it was nice, obviously, to finish off the innings like that.
I think as a team we’ve spoken a lot about that. Finishing off at the death really well and trying to put pressure on the opposition, so it was nice to do that with Dani Gibson.”
“We talked about being ruthless and I think we were today. Obviously, Taunton’s a new game and a fresh day. We both start on zero, so I think it’ll be a great day to be a part of, hopefully.”
What comes next
England Vs India, 3rd T20I, The County Ground, Taunton, Somerset, 18:30 BST (13:30 EST).
